Googlebooks just aren’t ready
Googlebooks just aren’t ready

EEvery Googlebook laptop we’ve tested so far has great hardware. The problem is the software. While Googlebook OS has exciting ideas for how a laptop and phone can work together, right now it’s mostly a frustrating experience filled with annoying bugs and lackluster app support. It often feels like using an Android tablet with a […]

Birdbuddy’s Nook is a compact smart bird feeder for small spaces and budgets
Birdbuddy’s Nook is a compact smart bird feeder for small spaces and budgets

Birdbuddy is finally launching the new smart bird feeders it originally announced at CES 2026 earlier this year, but with new names. The Birdbuddy 2 Mini is now called the Birdbuddy Nook, and it is designed to be a smaller and more affordable option the company describes as its “most accessible smart bird feeder yet.” […]

Just because Tesla’s Optimus is in production doesn’t mean it’s actually ready
Just because Tesla’s Optimus is in production doesn’t mean it’s actually ready

On Tesla’s earnings call Wednesday, CEO Elon Musk announced that the company had begun early production of its humanoid robot on its high-volume line in Fremont, California. Then he laid out what still needs work: the robot’s hands, its safety, reliability, and durability, and the artificial intelligence needed to make it a productive tool. “There’s […]

AI agents are ready to shop. Some retailers are wary.
AI agents are ready to shop. Some retailers are wary.

Using an AI agent to shop for you is a strange experience. Tech companies have marketed them as personal assistants – the democratizing of labor that ordinarily would only be available to the rich and powerful. In practice, at least for buying things, it’s more like sending an anxious and apologetic teenager out to the […]

The world’s first triple 200-megapixel camera phone is great
The world’s first triple 200-megapixel camera phone is great

Oppo’s Find X10 Pro Max is the first phone with a triple 200-megapixel camera, which you’re likely to see as either a masterful feat of engineering or a load of hyped-up marketing nonsense. The truth is somewhere in the middle. We’ve seen 200-megapixel cameras in phones before, starting with 2022’s Moto X30 Pro. This year’s […]

Eiliko maker says it’s hiring an ‘independent security firm’ after Verge report on its insecure robots
Eiliko maker says it’s hiring an ‘independent security firm’ after Verge report on its insecure robots

Eiliko, a cute robot charm you can hang on your bag with built-in AI conversations, turned out to be a security nightmare. It told owners that “your secrets are safe with me,” but hackers could easily read complete transcripts of everything we told the toy, and that was just the beginning. The Verge and security […]

ESET says Russia-linked hackers hid malware traffic in Yggdrasil network
ESET says Russia-linked hackers hid malware traffic in Yggdrasil network

ESET linked hackers to Russia, using a decentralised network to hide their malware during an attack on a Ukrainian grain company. The security company says it is the first documented case of a state-linked hacking group using the Yggdrasil network in t…

YouTube says it isn’t testing hiding the dislike button
YouTube says it isn’t testing hiding the dislike button

On Tuesday, I published a story about how YouTube appeared to be testing hiding the dislike button on videos, with at least two users on X sharing screenshots of the dislike button moved into the three-dot menu. But a YouTube spokesperson, in a Wednesday statement to The Verge, confirmed that YouTube is “not testing hiding […]

Tesla says customers can add their own vehicles to the robotaxi fleet next year — will it happen?
Tesla says customers can add their own vehicles to the robotaxi fleet next year — will it happen?

For years, Elon Musk has been making big promises to Tesla owners about unsupervised autonomous driving and the ability to add their own vehicles to the company’s robotaxi fleet. During today’s third-quarter earnings call, the company finally gave itself a deadline. According to Tesla VP for Autonomous Driving Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla owners will be able […]

Meta to create a new class of shares to fund AI push
Meta to create a new class of shares to fund AI push

Meta says it’s issuing a new class of shares to fund its AI initiatives. As part of its third-quarter earnings report released on Wednesday, the company says the non-voting stock will also go toward potential acquisitions and employee compensation, with trading beginning in 2027. “The scale of investment required to compete, sustain growth, expand infrastructure, […]